We periodically run anonymous Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys across our worldwide team which, by the way, now consists of 3,000 people across 22 countries. In order to get a better understanding of how Zomans the world over feel, we slice and dice the results by country and function. This time around, as always, we followed the standard approach of asking, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to refer a friend at Zomato?”, followed up with “Please explain the reason for the assigned score.”

We wanted to know the reasons behind the responses to better understand why someone would (or would not) refer a friend to join us, and to see if anything needed to be fixed. After going through many hundreds of responses to these two questions, we discovered something – we’ll probably never get a very high internal NPS. And the reason, is our culture. While a positively skewed score is considered good, our definition of a high score is anything upward of 50%+. We’re currently at an organisation-wide score of 35%+, and here are some responses – verbatim – that validate that figure (and let us breathe a little easier).

“Not all of my friends are Zomato material, and I wouldn’t want to see all of them here. Zomato is a great place to work at, but you need to have a specific mindset to have a great time here, and that’s why I wouldn’t bring my friends to work with us.”

“I won’t give a 9 or 10 because I know most of my friends don’t have what it takes and don’t want to dedicate themselves so much to a job. It is their choice, not mine.”

This one sums it up perfectly:

“I am glad to finally be able to explain my answer.

I do not remember what scores I assigned on previous surveys, but they were never very high. In fact, they are getting lower. Does this mean I am not happy working here? No. Does this mean that I do not think of Zomato as a place to learn and grow? Absolutely not.

Why wouldn’t I promote the very product I help developing, a product which I happen to think is so useful that I use everyday? Why would I diss what has been the most important part of my life for the past year?

I talk incessantly about my life at Zomato and about my product. But this does not mean I would recommend all my friends to work at Zomato.

When I started working here years ago, Zomato was nice. Back then, I would have totally recommend it to all my friends.

But then I started getting more involved. Work became more complex and demanding as I started getting more responsibilities. I started realizing that this isn’t for everybody. This is hard work and wild dreams. You need to be completely focused, organized and a fierce prioritizer. You need to be fully invested in now without losing focus on the big picture. What you are right now is never enough; you always feel a bit uncomfortable, a bit on the edge of the knife, a bit inexperienced and unskilled for what you are doing right now. And greatness thrives here.

Zomato is the greatest learning and growing place I ever had. I became a better person and professional because I have been pushed so much. It is not all nice and fun and games. This is ruthless and we know it.

This is also exactly what I love about working here. We foster no contentment and accept no incompetence. We as a company accept that this is not for everyone. So why do we lose our shit every time we do not score that high on this question? This does not necessarily mean there is something wrong with our culture. It does not even mean that our employee NPS is low.

It just means that we do not think that all our friends have what it takes to work here. While some of my friends just want a 9 to 5 job, others do not want to be out of their comfort zone. Some do not have the right profile to become anything higher than average around here. They are great friends and people, but will never make great Zomans.” 

Adding on:

“Not everyone would fit here. I would only refer friends who I think would thrive in this environment of frenetic pace, high amount of responsibility and a lot of thinking to do.”

“Zomato is definitely a place to learn and grow but I’m not sure I would be comfortable referring a friend of mine. This is not a job for everyone. One has to be very passionate and tireless.”

“You have to be of a special breed to work here. It’s hard work, it’s incredible hours, it’s hustle, it’s working to find impossible solutions. I don’t think a lot of my friends could handle it.”

“I think that you have to be the right fit for Zomato. If you want to learn, have a lot of energy, see the glass half full and look for opportunities rather than excuses then this is a great place to learn and challenge yourself.”

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Though the score might be low (by our high standards), the flip side highlights its uniqueness, and the reasons justify it well. The next time, we will run the NPS survey in a slightly different way, because sometimes one needs to bend a few rules to understand Zomato better. We’ll keep you posted on how that goes.